Obama seeks to ease Japan tension

US President Barack Obama has arrived in Japan at a time of uncertainty in relations with America's old ally over foreign policy and US military bases. Japan's new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has signalled he wants closer ties with Asia and that he opposes plans to relocate a US base on Okinawa.

Mr Obama's first Asian tour as US leader is aimed at boosting economic growth and reassuring key allies.

He called for a growth strategy "that is both balanced and broadly shared".

His eight-day tour will take him to Singapore, China and South Korea and includes an Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit.

He told Reuters news agency China was a "partner" as well as rival but warned of "enormous strains" in relations between the world's two most powerful nations if economic imbalances between them were not corrected.

Climate change and the North Korean and Iranian nuclear disputes are also likely to be on the agenda for his talks with Asian leaders.

Jonathan Marcus, the BBC's diplomatic correspondent, says that while Mr Obama will push for increased Chinese co-operation in containing the two countries, his real challenge will be to allay the concerns of his non-Chinese hosts about the rise of Beijing's power in the region.

His message will be that the US is back as a player on the region's diplomatic chess board, our correspondent adds.